Howrah: Within six hours of CM Suvendu Adhikari’s message that “no one will be spared”, the joint forces of the state CID and Howrah Rural Police arrested the right-hand man of the prime suspect in the murder of Bagnan BJP neta Prasanta Dey late on Saturday.Trinamool functionary Sk Saifuddin was virtually pulled out from “underground” — quite literally — as officers caught him from a hidden subterranean storeroom beneath the floor of a house in Howrah’s Shyampur.The breakthrough came shortly after Adhikari visited the grieving wife, daughter and family members of the deceased vice-president of Bagnan mandal No. 5 on Saturday.Speaking to reporters during the visit, Adhikari said he had ordered the police administration to arrest every individual named in the FIR and initiate a fast-track custodial trial. He emphasised that the suspects must be tracked down regardless of their location, adding that they must be dragged out even if they hide underground.Within six hours of the CM’s visit, TMC’s powerful neta Saifuddin — widely known as the right-hand man of prime accused and Antila panchayat head Sk Mafijul Khan — was taken into custody. Out of the 51 accused individuals named in the FIR, Saifuddin is listed at number 43.With Saifuddin, the total number of arrests in the case has reached 11. Although Mafijul is on the run, investigators believe Saifuddin’s interrogation will lead to his swift arrest.Previously, BJP’s Howrah district functionary Masud Alam Khan and the victim’s wife, Soma, alleged that Saifuddin and his associates launched the fatal attack under Mafijul’s direct instructions.Dey, a resident of Bantul village, was murdered on June 17. According to BJP, the victims were returning home from a social gathering in Antila when they were ambushed by TMC miscreants led by Mafijul and Saifuddin. The attackers brutally beat them with sticks and iron rods, leading to Dey’s death on the spot. Four other BJP workers accompanying him were severely injured in the assault and remain hospitalised at SSKM Hospital.After confirming his death, unidentified individuals called Dey’s wife, taunting that her husband “was killed for doing too much BJP politics”. The chilling call ended with the message: “Go, collect his body.” Subsequently, family members reportedly recovered a white shroud, Rs 5,000 and a note stating “sending money for the funeral rituals” left in a corner of their house balcony.
